With support from a grieving father and injury
prevention researchers, two Johns Hopkins engineering
students have designed and fabricated a new whitewater
recreation helmet to better protect rafters and kayakers
from life-threatening head injuries. The prototype and
specifications will be patented by a nonprofit foundation
that plans to mass-produce and sell the headgear at cost.
Injury prevention experts also hope the project will bolster
efforts to adopt stronger safety standards for whitewater
helmets, similar to those in place for bicycle helmets and
other sports gear.

The issue was brought to the attention of Johns Hopkins
by Gil Turner, a Park City, Utah, resident whose 22-year-old
son, Lucas Brandon Turner, died in 1998 while kayaking on
the Payette River in Idaho. "He was an expert whitewater
kayaker, but somehow he was thrown into the river," Turner
said. "The force of the water pushed him head-first into a
large boulder. He would have survived if his helmet had
stayed in place, but it slipped backward and exposed his
forehead. He sustained a fatal blow to the center of his
forehead." The incident led Turner, a retired businessman,
to found the Whitewater Research and Safety Institute, which
co-funded the safer helmet development project with the
Center
for Injury Research and Policy at The Johns Hopkins
University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The job of designing and fabricating the whitewater
helmet was handed to two seniors enrolled in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering's Senior Design Project course: Michael
Cordeiro, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major from
Easton, Md., and Chang Lee, 22, of Atlanta, who was
completing a dual major in biomedical engineering and
engineering mechanics.

Photo A: Undergraduates Michael Cordeiro and Chang Lee spent
two semesters designing and assembling a prototype for a
whitewater recreation helmet that may provide better
protection that existing models.Photo by Will Kirk

The undergraduates were asked to study head injuries that
occurred in whitewater sports and to design a helmet that
would better absorb shocks and prevent injuries. The helmet
had to be lightweight (less than 30 ounces), buoyant in
water and durable enough to survive repeated collisions with
hard objects. It required straps that would hold the helmet
in place even in fast-moving water. It had to cost less than
$30 per helmet to manufacture and be comfortable and
aesthetically pleasing enough to appeal to whitewater
enthusiasts.

The yearlong project concluded this month when Cordeiro
and Lee unveiled a prototype helmet and subjected it to
several tests designed to replicate whitewater conditions.
The undergraduates attached the helmet to a dummy head,
marked its position, then blasted it with a high-pressure
fire hose that unleashed water moving at about 30 mph. The
straps held the helmet firmly in place, indicating it should
continue to protect a wearer's head, even in a fast-moving
river. The students also assembled an impact-test apparatus
to mimic a high-speed collision between the helmet and a
rock. Their test indicated the prototype helmet should
absorb enough energy to prevent a serious head injury.

Photo B: The student-designed whitewater helmet has three
layers of foam inside the shell to help reduce injuries. Photo by Will Kirk

Much of the helmet's protective power comes from three
layers of EVA foam installed inside the shell. Each layer
consists of a different density of closed-cell material,
which will not absorb water if the wearer falls into a
stream. The shell is made of rugged ABS plastic. Plastic
head coverings are usually produced through an expensive
molding process. But Cordeiro and Lee dramatically reduced
the cost of their prototype helmet by using a high-tech
rapid prototyping machine, which applies the plastic in a
computer-guided shape through a process that resembles
three-dimensional ink-jet printing. Ultimately, they spent
only $5,400 to design, fabricate and test their prototype
helmet.

"It was really rewarding to see it come together," said
Lee. "We got what we were looking for, what we were
designing for." Added Cordeiro: "This was a research project
where we actually got to see something important come out of
it -- a product that could save people's lives."

Currently no industry nor government safety standards
exist for whitewater helmets in the United States, said
Michael Ho, a Center for Injury Research and Policy staff
member who monitored the students' efforts. "Our center co-
sponsored this project because we wanted to show that it is
possible to design and construct a helmet for whitewater use
that adhered to standards that we asked the students to
develop through their research," Ho said. "The statistics
related to whitewater injuries are unreliable, but we do
know that among the fatal cases, the mechanism of death
tends to be a combination of impact to the head and
drowning. The whitewater industry and the people who enjoy
these sports need to begin talking about standards for a
helmet that could do a better job of preventing such
injuries."

Photo C: The helmet project was inspired by the death of
kayaker Lucan Brandon Turner, pictured above, who died in
1998 when his helmet slipped, exposing his forehead to a
fatal rock injury.Photo courtesy of Gil Turner

The safer whitewater helmet was one of 11 Johns Hopkins
projects completed this year by undergraduates in the Senior
Design Project course. The class is taught by Andrew F.
Conn, a Johns Hopkins graduate with more than 30 years of
experience in public and private research and development.
Each team of two or three students, working within budgets
of up to $10,000, had to design a device, purchase or
fabricate the parts, and assemble the final product.
Corporations, government agencies and nonprofit groups
provided the assignments and funding. The course is
traditionally a well-received hands-on engineering
experience for Johns Hopkins undergraduates.

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